On Shed

The Nilgiri Mountain Railway in Tamil Nadu is a part rack and pinion line owing to the ruling gradient of 1/25 and it runs from Mettupalayam through Coonoor to Udagamandalam. (Ooty)

At present the steam engines work the section from Mettupalayam to Coonoor with diesels taking the train up to the summit at Ooty. The line reaches an elevation of 7228 ft, climbing over 6000 ft through the Nigiri Hills.

This picture was taken on a November evening in 2013 in Mettupalayam after we had travelled down the route from Ooty. With the fading light, and the need to drive to Mysore, my snapping was done in a hurry. It’s an area that I would love to visit again, but at a more leisurely pace.

It was taken on the family Box Brownie in Lincoln, England while we were there visiting my father’s family. I clearly remember the picture and the locomotive taken at St Marks station which would be about 62 years ago. We must still have the picture somewhere!

Great photography! Your street portraits are exceptionally well done. I imagine that inside that train shed would present some interesting images and a crazy challenge to get the exposures right. All that soot would make for some good shots.
R/ Chris

Hi Chris, time was at a premium on this visit and it was getting dark. I must try to return here.
Thanks for your comment, it was in India that I started to gain the confidence to tackle photographing people in the street.

Thank you. As a steam railway lover I take issue with your expression ‘toy train’! This metre gauge railway climbs over 6000 feet and the locomotives are not in any way toys, but full size and powerful machines. However, you are excused your gaff as you made a nice comment!
🙂